Human-Batarian border conflict
From FABT
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Quarian-geth conflict | ||||||||||||||||
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 CSV Enterprise engages the BRS Condemned in a full broadside at the Battle of Verush in 2198 CE.
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4 February 2165 CE - 13 January 2254 CE | ||||||||||||||||
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Alliance Space / Milky Way Galaxy | ||||||||||||||||
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- "The batarians hated us from the start. They resented our success, and they felt insulted when we expanded our reach into the Skyllian Verge, a region of space they believed to be theirs by right. Tensions remained high between us and the Batarian Hegemony, and there were many times that those hostilities broke out into open war. The batarians were determined to make our lives hell...but we were all too willing to repay them that kindness."
- — Minister of Foreign Affairs Archer Mayweather regarding the Human-Batarian border conflict.
The Human-Batarian border conflict, also known as the Human-Batarian wars and sometimes as the Skyllian wars, were a series of border conflicts between the Systems Alliance (and later Systems Coalition) and the Batarian Hegemony (and later its many successor organizations) fought in and around the Skyllian Verge from 2165 CE to 2254 CE. The Human-Batarian border conflict was not a single war; it encompassed numerous military actions between the two powers that led to either brief undeclared skirmishes, or small-scale wars. They first began with the Alliance's first expansion into the Skyllian Verge, a region that had been claimed by the Hegemony as part of their eventual plans to further colonize beyond their space. This action outraged them, and when it became clear the Citadel Council would not directly intervene, the Hegemony sanctioned numerous military operations, both conventional and unconventional, in an effort to push humanity out of the Verge. In many, and most cases, these involved punitive expeditions in the form of slave grabs: the Hegemony Slaver Corps would deploy forces to attack an Alliance colony, enslave its populace, and then return to Hegemony space to sell off their batch. It was hoped the threat of such actions would force the Alliance to withdraw, especially in the face of having to fight a war with an older, more powerful neighbour. This was not the result however: Alliance expansion continued, with the Alliance military simply ramping up its presence in the area.
In 2176 CE, the Hegemony launched its largest ever punitive expedition when it attacked Elysium, one of the largest human colonies in the Verge, with the intention of sacking it and sending a message to the Alliance. The attack was repulsed with heavy casualties however, and the resulting war led to the Hegemony's secession from the Council, and the end of the Hegemony's immediate dreams of pushing humanity out of the Verge. A period of cold war ensued, with the Hegemony continuing its slaver operations, but instead seeking third-party proxies, like the Blood Pack, to perform the attacks for maximum deniablity: however, one major terrorist attack, which was then averted in 2183 CE, sought to destroy Terra Nova, and was performed by the batarian military. The conflict continued in low level hostilities until 2185 CE, when Marcus L. Shepard destroyed the Bahak system, wiping out 300,000 batarian civilians, an entire batarian colony, and several warships. This outraged the Hegemony, who believed the attack to be sanctioned by the Alliance, as well as a deliberate act of hostility. Tensions became very hot between the two powers by 2186 CE, with the Hegemony demanding Shepard's extradition. The Alliance declared war on the Hegemony in June when it mistakenly believed an invasion force that had crossed into their territory from Alliance space was a Hegemony invasion fleet, when in actual fact it was the Reapers, who had just finished decimating the Hegemony military. This bloodless war wouldn't be ended until 2188 CE, when both sides realized they were technically still at war, and ratified its conclusion diplomatically.
After the Reaper War, both sides were left devastated, although neither more so than the Hegemony. With most of their military obliterated, and their population in tatters, the batarians were left reeling and unable to wage war, yet that didn't stop Ocrolya Khabcass, the batarian councilor, from trying to instigate one for his own purposes. In 2197 CE, the batarians attacked the colony of Fargone, and the Systems Coalition declared war on the Hegemony. With the defeat and collapse of the Hegemony post-Border War, the two powers were deemed to be finally at peace. However, batarian elements resented the Coalition occupation, and used the BSDF to wage a campaign to spread unrest and provoke insurrection across human-occupied batarian space. When it became clear the BSDF was corrupt, the Coalition dissolved the organization and fully annexed batarian space, but this only worsened the situation, with the new BAFL organization continuing to fight against the Coalition: they were however opposed by those they deemed to be collaborators, and in 2201 CE, the Second Batarian Civil War broke out. The BAFL were defeated and forced to accept surrender in 2203 CE, but continued to fund and fuel efforts to stir up insurrection regardless. During the Dominion Civil War, the BAFL launched a renewed series of attacks against Coalition occupation forces known as the Batarian Freedom War, and were finally successful in pushing out the Coalition, especially when funded and supplied by the DDF. After the civil war, the Coalition and the newly established Third Batarian Republic finally signed the Virmire Accords, as well as the separate Terran-Khar'Shan Accords, the latter of which finally brought an end to hostilities between the two peoples, and peaceful co-existence between them for the next several centuries.